Several OEMs Debut New Models at the Florida SuperShow – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
TAMPA Fla. – One of the attractions that draws consumers to the Florida RV SuperShow, hosted each January by the Florida RV Trade Association, is the debut of all-new models by any number of OEMs – and this year’s show didn’t disappoint.
While RVBusiness couldn’t possibly round up everything new among the nearly 1,500 units on display at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa this year, here’s a look at few manufacturers who were displaying new offerings for the 2024 model year.
Tiffin Motorhomes
Two new models graced the Tiffin Motorhomes display – the Bob Tiffin Limited Edition (BTLE) and the entry-level Byway diesel pusher.
The Byway was offered in three floorplans – 33 FL, 38 BL and 38 CL – all of which were represented at Tampa, with one more on in production, said Jane Fairley, the national sales director for the Red Bay, Ala., manufacturer. The fourth floorplan will be a bunkhouse with two full baths, she said.
Tiffin markets the Byway as “bringing affordable diesel luxury to a new level as a variety of luxury options make the Byway the perfect blend of user-friendliness and Tiffin’s renown quality.”
“What makes these so attractive to consumers is, really, from just a small bump up from a small Class A, you can get into a diesel pusher,” Fairley said. “You get that diesel pusher lifestyle with more towing than we offer on the gas product.”
All three models on display at the show came in at under $270,000 street prices.
Meanwhile, the BTLE Allegro Bus features a Cummins L9 450-hp Diesel Engine, Allison 3000 MH 6-speed automatic transmission and rides on a Powerglide raised rail rear-engine chassis.
The coach celebrates the unique history, culture and legacy of Tiffin Motorhomes’ founder, Bob Tiffin, Fairley said, and exhibits features throughout that the founder holds in high regard, including exterior paint scenes depicting the Rocky Mountains, and slide facia to resemble the grill of a Packard, his favorite car.
Only 82 lucky consumers will be able to own the limited edition BTLE. That number coincides with its namesake’s 82nd birthday occurring during the 2024 model year.
“The reason that we came out with this was Van’s (Bob’s son) and Leigh’s (Bob’s grandson) idea to pay homage to Bob and his contributions to the RV industry after 50 years of doing business,” Fairley said.
“What this incorporates is Bob’s No. 1 favorite floorplan, the 45 OPP, so they’re all going to be 45 OPPs. All of them will be 450 horsepower and all of them will have things in the coach that Bob Tiffin loves,” she said.
Being one of the foremost Packard car collectors in the world, “if you look at the front grill of a Packard and then you walk inside the coach, you’re going to see that long, silver front grill in the slideout trim work,” she said.
Since Bob and his wife, Judy, loved the Southwest and Santa Fe, N.M., arrowhead-shaped sconces adorn the slideout room.
“That’s a tribute to the Native Americans out West,” Fairley said.
The entire coach gives off a Southwest vibe, with the floor resembling cowhide.
“It’s something nobody else is doing in the marketplace. It’s truly unique,” she said. “From the door handles, the cabinet pulls, to the headboard in the back, it’s almost like a leather hanging piece that hides the emergency exit door. Bob loves the mountains, so if you look at the exterior of the coach it looks like a mountain design.”
The BTLE carries an MRSP of $683,000.
REV Recreation Group
Under the Fleetwood brand, Bristol, Ind.-based REV Recreation Group unveiled its first foray into the B-van segment at Tampa.
The all-new Fleetwood Xcursion – with a sister-branded Holiday Rambler Xpedition that was not at the show – are built on all four variations of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis.
REV Group Marketing Manager Don Gephart said the new vans, “give Fleetwood and Holiday Rambler the opportunity to allow RVers who like the B van life to step into two of the most long-standing and iconic brands in the industry.”
It also allows the two REV Group brands to reach a new customer base and a demographic outside the Class A crowd that Fleetwood and Holiday Rambler are known to service.
“We want to branch out and offer them the same quality, the same service, the same look and feel we have in our Class As,” Gephart said.
“It’s a B van where we kind of went with a little different design than what everybody else does. You step into the inside and it’s got nice soft-touch vinyl wraps on the cabinetry and on the walls,” he said. “The cabinetry is actually a powdercoat process. It’s not painted. So, it’s durable, stain resistant, cleans up really well and has a nice clean, simple look to it. It’s just a very clean, iconic Fleetwood look.”
Fleetwood designers stayed away from the woodgrain cabinetry that other B van makers used, he added, because they wanted a cleaner, modern look.
The AL2 “adventure luxury” floorplan is built on the 144-inch Sprinter with AWD as an option. It includes a roof rack, lifted suspension and black wheels.
A second model rides on the 170-inch Sprinter, with two more models – one with four captain’s chairs on the Sprinter 170 extended.
All four floorplans offer rear seating.
Gulf Stream Coach Inc.
While the Kingsport travel trailer line is not completely new, it is being offered in 2024 for the first time with fiberglass construction, said Scott Parkhurst, vice president of sales for Nappanee, Ind.-based Gulf Stream Coach Inc.
“It’s the 177BH. It’s extremely popular,” he said. Formerly a stick-and-tin, the new-for-2024 Kingsport is now available with Azdel construction. “With the size of the bed in the front, it has a good amount of storage in the bunkhouse. And we have a sister to it, the 178, without a bunkhouse. So, with that type of price, people get a lot of unit for the money.”
Kingsports feature tankless water heaters and roof AC. Just shy of 22 feet in length and weighing in at 2,810 pounds, perhaps the best feature of the Kingsport 177 (and 178) is its entry-level price – $15,995.
KingStar
Making its debut at the Tampa SuperShow this year was KingStar Truck Campers, based in Houghton, Mich.
Offered in three models, the KingStars are built to last, with a 22-gauge stainless steel roof, stainless steel shower stall and pan, 2-inch closed cell spray foam insulation and thermo-pane windows.
The beefy truck campers come in four floorplans and offer safe and secure added storage, multiple finishes and décor and optional sidewall AC.
“We have the adventure series camper, which is the Camino, and then we have the Cruiser which is the expedition series, said Marcus Niemela, who co-founded the company in 2018 with his brother, Cal.
The adventure series, the lowest priced option at $39,960, is aimed at weekends and family trips while the Cruiser, at $59,960, is more of what you might drive on an Alaskan expedition.
“It’s more for people who are full time. It’s Truma Combi, big water capacity, big solar capacity, big battery capacity. I’m talking like 1,200 watts of solar, 63 gallons of water, 810-amp hours of lithium,” he said.
The finishes are different between the two series as well. The Cruisers offers a lot more stainless steel and soft-touch fabrics, where the Camino, while having the same build quality, carries less high-end technology.
A KingStar also is available on a cutaway, flatbed chassis.
“So that’s our flatbed build. This is a Cruiser with a widebody build. It’s 5 inches wider because we have the real estate with a flatbed. You really notice that in the galley when you walk in there because we put the 5 inches in the walkway,” he said.
The flatbed build ranges in the mid $90,000s, but Niemela says when you compare features and construction to his competitors, it sizes up pretty well.
“That $59,960 comes with 300-amp hours of Battle Born batteries, a 3,000-watt Victron inverter and the Victron MPPT solar converter, so that camper isn’t showing up without an engine in it. It’s got a big engine in it right from the get-go. A lot of the other manufacturers don’t even have an AGM battery in the camper.”
Travel Lite RV
Brand new for the 2024 model year at Travel Light RV (TLRV) and making its debut at Tampa was the Rove Lite XL, a larger version in the company’s popular Rove Lite lineup.
Bob Cira, national sales manager for the Syracuse, Ind., company, said the new Rove XL is 96 inches wide and 6 inches taller on the inside.
“So it has the same construction that a traditional Rove has – the aerodynamic teardrop design using Hydro-Lite – which makes it one of the lightest, most affordable travel trailers on the market,” he said.
ATC
Aluminum Trailer Company (ATC), Nappanee, Ind., showcased a new entry in its Plā series of toy haulers known for their all-aluminum base frame and wall structure. The Plā 450 debuted with two 20-foot-long, tandem-torsion-axle floorplans, the 2011 Front Bunk and the 2016 Front Kitchen.
The Plā 450 Series fills a void in the ATC lineup between the Plā 350 Series, a single-axle travel trailer, and the tandem-axle Plā 700 Series, which include travel trailers that range from 26 to over 35 feet long and and fifth-wheels from 37 to just over 46 feet long.
With a base MSRP in the high $40,000s, the Plā 450 Series is ATC’s mid-size toy hauler, noted Jason Schlabach, the company’s category manager in the RV division, featuring full amenities, configurable garage area and a small footprint that is easy to tow and maneuver behind a half ton truck or large SUV.
“The 450 gets us into a different part of the market,” he told RVBusiness. “We’ve taken the feedback from our current customers and prospective customers and saying they want something that is half-ton towable they need a smaller footprint – it has a 7.5-foot-wide box – and something that it may be a lower price point.”
